


The Cracks in my Heart

by greendalecoolcat



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 05:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11306190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendalecoolcat/pseuds/greendalecoolcat
Summary: com·fort (noun)1. a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.2. the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress.





	The Cracks in my Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone, thank you for reading! This is a missing moments/AU fic that takes place from Season 1 to Season 5. I wanted to try something different than my usual style. I hope you like it!

March 11, 2010

He was struggling with his conscience. He could listen to Annie and help Pierce repair his relationship with his step daughter… or he could have sex with said step-daughter. He knew the right thing to do would be to help his friend…but he really, really liked sex. He would have already made his decision if it wasn’t for Annie and her doe eyes. God! Since when did she become his moral compass? Since when did a four-foot, overachieving, wide-eyed brunette make him rethink his life choices? 

The answer may have been there but he didn’t want to reflect on it too much.

But then again, there is _some_ reason why that when Jeff saw Annie sitting alone in the quad, he was inclined to take a seat beside her. She had a forlorn look on her face as she watched students and their families wander around the festivities. So of course, his conscience told him to go over there and check on her…but if he was being honest, he’d wanted to put a smile on her face ever since he saw her light up as they danced at her Dia de los Muertos party.

“Hey there,” he said as he took up the space next to her on the bench.

She wasn’t surprised to see him, but still distracted. “Hey,” she smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“The last time I saw you, your eyes were manipulating me into being a good person but now they look particularly sad,” he smirked at her.

She let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes. “I only use my eyes for good, Jeff. You should know that by now.”

“I don’t know, Annie. I’ve been on the receiving end of your pleas far too many times.” He nudged her shoulder with his, “But seriously. What’s up?”

Her smile faltered and she looked at the ground. “I don’t know, just seeing everyone with their families today…it’s nice.”

He looked at her curiously, “Oh yeah, hey. Where’s your family today?”

She let out a big sigh and looked at him. “I haven’t seen my family since before I went to rehab.”

His expression changed to one of surprise. “Annie, I had no idea. I didn’t know things were that bad between you guys,” he was sincere.

She smiled sadly at him and shrugged, “It’s okay. I’m doing fine on my own. It just hits me all over again when I see what I’m missing out on.”

“Let me tell you something,” his voice was low. “I didn’t have the best family life either. My dad left when I was a kid.” She looked at him with surprise. “I know it seems like it sucks now, but you’ll be fine.” He smirked, “I mean, look at me.”

Annie sincerely laughed, but smiled appreciatively at him. “Thanks, Jeff.”

He looked out into the crowd, “No problem.” He nodded towards the Human Being walking around with a much tinier Human Being, “Pfft, I mean, come on. This is all pretty lame anyway.”

Annie rolled her eyes, looking to where Jeff was looking, “Well I guess it’s easy to say that if you’re alone on Family Day.”

Jeff smiled at her, “I’ll tell you what. Next year on Family Day, you and I can play hooky and go hang out or something.”

Annie beamed at him, “Let’s do it.”

Jeff chuckled, relived that he was able to turn her mood around. He wasn’t sure what compelled him to do what he did, but whatever moral debate he would be having in his head later would be worth it.

“So, tell me about the Amber situation. Are you fixing it?”

“Uhhhhh…” he squinted at the ground.

“Jeff!” She swatted his shoulder. “You’re supposed to be helping Pierce!”

“It’s a lot harder than it looks! I mean, have you seen Amber? I’m only a man, Annie.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she shook her head but was still smiling.

 

 ---

February 17, 2011

They all left the hospital that evening around eight, but Jeff had stayed back in Pierce’s room for a couple of hours. Though Pierce was completely in the wrong for misleading Jeff, for misleading all of them really, what he did to Jeff was undeniably cruel. But despite everything Pierce put him through that day, Annie thought it was really sweet of Jeff to spend some _real_ time with Pierce, even if he was an insane old man.

At this point, it was around ten and Annie was settled into her bed for the night, having just finished up washing her face and laying out her outfit for the morning. But she couldn’t help but think about Jeff curled up in that hospital chair. The sight may have been adorable, but she knew Jeff and she knew that everything Pierce brought on about his father was eating at him…and Abed may have mentioned that he had footage of Jeff freaking out about the whole thing.

She decided to call him to make sure he was okay. He picked up on the third ring.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey there.”

 _“Annie. Hey.”_ He sounded like he was walking.

“Hey. How’s Pierce?”

He scoffed. _“Stitched up and bruised but otherwise the same old bastard.”_ He paused for a moment before continuing, _“But he was sound asleep when I left.”_

She smiled at the thought of Jeff sticking around for that. “That’s good. When did you get back?”

_“I’m just getting in now actually.”_

“Oh! Well, good.” There was a slight awkward silence when he didn’t respond right away.

 _“So, just checking in?”_ She could hear the smile in his voice.

She could feel her face flush. “Well, you know. It was a weird day…for everyone. And I was just seeing if you got home okay. And…to see how you were doing.”

She heard him sigh as he collapsed onto his couch. _“Did you also call Troy and Abed to see how they were doing?”_ He was still smiling.

“Well, no…” She definitely felt embarrassed now.

But he saved her when he teased, _“You mean no one else beat up their sixty-year-old friend and had a mental breakdown because they thought their estranged father was showing up after twenty years?”_

She let out a breath of laughter into the phone. “No, Jeff. I think you’re the only one,” she replied with a just as teasing tone.

_“Well color me surprised!”_

She giggled. “But seriously, Jeff. Are you okay?” She asked earnestly.

_“I will be.”_

“If you ever need to talk about it…”

 _“I’ll be sure to call my wise-beyond-her-years friend from my college study group,”_ he said self-deprecatingly.

“Jeff! I mean it! You had to deal with a lot today and I know it must have been hard.”

 _“Yeah, yeah. Thanks. I do appreciate it.”_ He paused, _“You’re probably the only one who can really relate. I mean, Britta tried to get me to talk, but…I don’t need to explain why that wasn’t happening.”_

Annie smiled, “I’m sure she had good intentions?”

_“Yeah…I guess. Uh, alright, well. I’m gonna go shower and wash off this weird day…um, thanks for calling, Annie.”_

“Of course, Jeff. I’m always here.”

 

\---

February 18, 2011

Annie heard her phone chiming from on her desk. She looked over and read the alert on her phone:

 **10:36 PM, JEFF WINGER CALLING**.

She smiled to herself and picked up the phone.

 

\---

November 22, 2012

It was just around ten that evening and he walked into Apartment 303 feeling distracted, but still had only one person on his mind. It had been becoming a common occurrence for Jeff to stop by unannounced, and Troy and Abed learned to not question it. Abed opened the door and gave a knowing nod to Jeff, letting the scene play out rather than ask questions. Jeff mumbled a quick “Happy Thanksgiving” to both Abed and Troy, who was sitting in his recliner in front of the TV. He headed straight for Annie’s room.

He saw that her door was left open so he walked in without knocking. She was laying on her stomach in the middle of her bed, still wearing her teal dress from earlier. She had a highlighter in hand and was outlining her textbook. She looked up in surprise when she saw him enter, but her demeaner was warm and welcoming as always. “Hey there,” she said carefully, reading his body language immediately. “Happy Thanksgiving?” She knew it wasn’t.

Without saying anything, Jeff continued into the room and sat on the floor, leaning his back against her bed until his head found a place on her mattress. He closed his eyes and shook his head, “It was awful.”

“Jeff, I’m so sorry.” Annie closed her textbook and pushed it off to the side. She scooted closer to the edge of the bed and her hands made their way into his hair, scratching gently. The action was almost voluntary, knowing that as much as he put up a fuss over his hair, he secretly loved it. Annie learned that it helped soothe him, and that she was the only person in the world allowed to touch his hair. She discovered this one day in the study room one day, when he was studying for an exam he needed to ace in order to pass the class. She found him stretched out on the couch with his arms thrown over his eyes. She tried to calm him down and it only started to work when began to caress his head. They both knew it was an intimate gesture, but it was a sound system and it worked instantly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked gently, her fingers still combing through his sculpted locks.

He laughed helplessly, recalling everything that went down that night. “Britta was there.”

Her hands stopped moving immediately, “What?!”

“Yeah.” He shook his head again.

“What on earth was she doing there?” Her fingers continued to sooth along his scalp once she collected herself.

“Trying to therapize me. You know, the usual.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to dull the ache of this crappy day.

“She shouldn’t have blindsided you like that, Jeff. She shouldn’t have been there at all.”

“Tell me about it,” he sighed.

“I can talk to her if you want,” she offered gently.

“No, it’s fine. Forget it. That wasn’t the worst thing that happened today.” He paused before he continued. “I walked out on him. Twice.”

“What happened?” Her warmth surrounded his head.

“It started off okay. We set some ground rules. I told him I was a lawyer. He told me a douchey story about himself. We had dinner. Britta decided to leave me alone and tried therapize my half-brother.”

“Oh boy…”

“Yup. It involved dinner rolls. But then it all went to shit as soon as he told me that he did me right by leaving. Because it made me ‘well-adjusted’ and ‘strong.’ What kind of asshole says that to his son?!” He heard Annie softly gasp, but he decided to keep going. “So then I told him to go to hell and I left.”

“Jeff…” At this point Annie climbed off the bed and took a seat beside him on the floor. She curled into his side and let her head rest on his shoulder.

“But then as I was driving away, I just got so angry. I waited my entire life to see him again and I wasn’t letting him get away with it a second time. So I turned my car around and went back to his house and I told him off.” He felt Annie’s hands tighten around his arm. His voice was softer, “I told him that he should take credit for who I’ve become. I told him that everyday I’m barely keeping it together. And that he’s the reason why I’m so afraid of letting the people closest to me into my life.”

Annie’s eyes were stinging with unshed tears, but she didn’t let that stop her from comforting him. She lifted her head and stared at his profile. He was staring at the quilted rug beneath them. “Jeff,” she whispered, “I’m really proud of you.” His mouth twitched in an attempted smile, but it didn’t last long. “I mean it. I know meeting your father didn’t turn out the way you hoped, and I’m so sorry about that. But you did the right thing. He doesn’t deserve you.”

He let out a breath of air. “Thanks, Annie.” He wrapped his arm around her so she was pressed into his side even further. She wrapped both of her arms around his middle and held the embrace. His cheek eventually found a home at the top of her head. “How was your night?” He mumbled into her hair.

“Which do you want to hear about first, drawing an escape route on Abed’s naked stomach or Pierce attempting to tell jokes in whiteface over blackface?” She asked with her cheek pressed against his chest.

Jeff’s whole body was shaking with silent laughter. He squeezed her tighter, “why don’t you surprise me?”

 

\---

August 17, 2013

She was miserable. She was working a job that took her months to find, only to realize that she _hated_ hospital administration. She spent four years earning a degree in something she wasn’t passionate about and now she was pushing pens onto people for companies that push pills on consumers! She was a pen pusher! She might as well have been pushing pills!

She collapsed face first into her bed. She was lonely. She needed to talk to someone. She thought of Troy and Abed but they seemed just as lost as her these days. She could’ve call up Shirley, but things had been tense with Andre lately and she didn’t need added stress. There was Britta, but the last time they talked, it ended with them both getting drunk at Britta’s bar and that wasn’t what she needed right now.

She knew who she wanted to really talk to. She blindly reached for her phone and rolled onto her side. She pulled up his name and stared at the number until her screen went dark. But the truth was, it probably wasn’t the best idea to call him. She hadn’t seen much of Jeff at all lately and she couldn’t help but think he was distancing himself from the group. When he graduated last December, he promised everyone he would be around. They spent the New Year together, and they had a few get-togethers before the Spring semester started. Jeff was starting up his own private firm. They were all happy for him.

They saw him less and less but they assumed it was because he was busy. He wasn’t around all that much and he declined offers to hang out more over time. He and Annie still chatted every once in a while, through text over or over Facebook. Just about minor Greendale things. And of course, he attended their graduation in May. He was happy to see everyone, but Annie had to admit that he seemed distant. She wanted to ask him about it, but he didn’t seem in the mood.

She remembers when he slipped out of their party early, not wanting to make a fuss with everyone. But Annie caught him and demanded a proper goodbye. She remembers the way he laughed and smiled to himself, turning around to find her standing in front of the apartment door with her arms crossed over her chest. “If you think you’re leaving that easily, then you have another thing coming, Jeff Winger.”

        “You’re right, I’m sorry,” he looked at the ceiling of the hallway and smirked. “Everyone was having a good time, I didn’t want to break it up.”

        “You weren’t having a good time?”

        “I was! Just… work and stuff. It’s been busy.”

        She smiled at him, “Lots of cases?”

        He ran his hand over his neck, “Something like that.”

        “Okay then. I’ll let you go. Thanks for coming, Jeff. We’re all really glad you made it,” she smiled sincerely at him.

        He gave her a crooked smile and leaned in to hug her. “I wouldn’t miss it,” he said into her hair as he squeezed her one last time. “Congratulations, Annie.”

And that was the last time she saw him. It had been three months and he hadn’t contacted anyone since. It wasn’t like he went into hiding or anything. Apparently Abed was supposed to help him with a commercial for his law firm soon. But he hadn’t reached out to her, and she supposed he didn’t have a reason to. So she let time pass and now it would seem strange to just give him a call and dump her problems onto him.

They graduated. Had real jobs. Maybe they grew out of whatever it was they had between them.

She shoved her phone underneath her pillow and closed her eyes, hating every minute she spent wallowing over the past.

 

\---

January 16, 2014

The first place she ended up was at his apartment. She tried going home but she couldn’t sit more than five minutes in the place without crying into her pillow. Troy attempted to console her, but he was more concerned with Abed, wanting to make sure he was okay. She understood though, she knew Troy leaving would affect Abed the most. He was losing his best friend, his soulmate, his other half. And thinking about that made Annie’s heart break a little more.

The only thing she wanted to do was see Jeff. She realized that in the last five years, he was the only person who was able to mend the cracks in her heart. When she knocked on his door, her eyes were already brimmed with tears. She heard some shuffling momentarily before he opened the door. He looked disheveled, like he was trying to make sense of everything that happened within the last few days.

“Annie?” He was immediately concerned.

“Hey there,” she began to cry.

He took in her features and pulled her into the apartment. He closed the door and immediately wrapped his arms around her. She let it all out and silently sobbed into his shirt. “What’s wrong?” He whispered into her hair.

He rubbed her back as she struggled to answer. “Troy is leaving us,” she gasped between sobs. “And, and Pierce is gone forever,” her arms clung to him tighter, “and I’ve really missed you!” She was crying so much that she could barely breath.

“Annie…” he said softy, holding her tight until she calmed down. “I’m right here.”

She hadn’t realized that he was another reason why she was so heartbroken recently. After they all graduated and he started his firm and she started her new job, they barely got to see each other. It wasn’t until they all found themselves back at Greendale that they were in each other’s lives again. Graduating was really hard without him, and the past few months had been really dark. She missed her best friend. There was always something more between the two of them, but one of the things she valued most about their friendship was their ability to comfort one another. They always shared an understanding that no one else ever did.

When she controlled her breathing and her cries turned into soft gasps, he pulled away from her and brushed his thumbs along her cheeks, moving hair away from her face. He searched her face and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. “Come on, let’s go sit down.”

He took her hand and led her to his couch. He took a seat in the corner but pulled her next to him, practically in his lap. Once they were settled in, Annie rested her head on his chest while he ran his hand up and down her arm soothingly.

She sniffed and mumbled into his shirt, “Sorry for just showing up. I should have called first.”

He squeezed her shoulder, “Don’t apologize. You’re always welcome here, you know that.”

“It’s been a while,” she moved her head so she was looking up at him.

“That doesn’t change anything,” he said firmly.

Instead of arguing, she moved on. “Why is everyone leaving us, Jeff?”

“Troy’s not leaving forever. He’ll be back,” his hand continued its path along her arm.

“But Pierce,” her voice broke, “he’ll never be back.”

Jeff sighed, “He had a good life, Annie. He was lucky to have you in it.”

“I didn’t see him much lately. He was probably lonely,” she let a few tears escape.

“He was okay. And you know Pierce. Even when he leaves, he’s never really gone,” he smiled softly at her. “…And we have six cylinders of sperm to prove it.”

She scoffed into his shirt, “Jeff!” She laughed for the first time in days. He chuckled himself, and began to comb his fingers through her hair.

They were quiet for a while, just taking in each other’s warmth. It gave him time to think of all the other times he found himself spending an evening with Annie in his apartment. It wasn’t often, but there were times when he begged her come over to help him with his biology assignments, and she would pretend to be put out but would always be over within twenty minutes. And there were times when Troy and Abed were filming in the apartment and she just needed to escape for a little while. Sometimes they would just watch TV while other nights she would make him do some homework. He smiled thinking back to those much simpler times. Everything was easier.

He was taken from his thoughts when he heard Annie call for him.

“Jeff?” Annie asked softly.

“Hm?”

“Please don’t go away again.”

His hand stopped moving and he was quiet for a few moments before he responded. “I won’t.” It was all he said before pressing a lingering kiss to the top of her head.

 

\---

April 10, 2014

It felt like all of those other times in the last five years, when his anxiety was gnawing at him and he sought comfort from his best friend. He knocked on the door to Apartment 303, fidgeting with his sleeves and his pockets, feeling completely restless. Earlier that day they discovered that Greendale was closing. It was bought by Subway. His home, the study group’s home, would be turning into a sandwich university. His life felt like a complete and utter joke.

When she opened the door, she seemed just as lost, but almost like she was expecting him so arrive at her door. She smiled sadly at him.

He sighed defeatedly, “Hey there.”

She moved aside to let him in. “What’s going on?” She asked after she turned and closed the door to the apartment.

“I’m pretty much freaking out,” he admitted.

“I am too.”

“I just…God, Annie. I don’t know how to process this. I don’t know anything anymore,” he laughed humorlessly.

She wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged, “I want to say everything is going to be okay but I don’t know this time. This year keeps breaking my heart.”

He stepped closer to her and caressed her elbow in a somewhat comforting gesture. “This year has been remarkably shitty.”

“Greendale gave us everything, Jeff. I can’t…I can’t believe we have to say goodbye again,” she fell forward into his arms and let a few tears escape.

“We’ll still have each other. We’ll still be a family,” he said into her hair as he held her.

“We said that last time and look what happened.”

“We won’t let that happen again.”

“Jeff…” She wanted to believe him but she was still wary. She was done getting her hopes up.

He moved her away slightly so he could place his forehead against hers. “We won’t,” he said firmly.

She nodded slightly, refusing to meet his eyes. What he really wanted to do was lift her chin until she was looking at him, so he could lean in and kiss her fears away. But before he could convince himself that it was a bad idea, she pulled back and took his hand, “There’s something I want to give you.”

“What is it?” He searched her eyes.

She began to tug his arm, “Come on, it’s in my room.”

When they walked through her door, he was flooded with memories of the two sitting on the floor, comforting one another about their disastrous Thanksgivings. But there was also the time she called him to come over because she was struggling with her law class assignment and she insisted that he help her. Or the time she was sick for almost an entire week with strep throat and he stopped by every day to give her notes that she missed and to fill her in on study group antics. (Troy and Abed always offered since they lived together but Jeff and Annie were the only ones taking Professor Garrity’s Advanced Deception class, so it just made sense.)

Jeff went to sit on the edge of her bed while she knelt on the ground going through the keepsake box in the corner of her room. He felt anxious, because of everything happening with Greendale and because he had no idea what she could possibly be giving him. He tapped his foot and ran his nervous hands over his jeans, looking on as she shuffled through papers. When she found what she was looking for, she tentatively picked herself off the floor and sat next to Jeff on the bed. He smiled crookedly at her, despite the fact that she looked extremely unsure of herself.

“What, do you want me to read over one last law assignment?” He joked.

She gently laughed before she regained her serious and tentative composure. “No, no. It’s not.” She shook her head and didn’t meet his eyes, “This is probably really stupid, but with everything happening… I wanted to finally give you this.” She handed him what revealed to be an honorary certificate made out in his name for their 2009 winning Debate Championship.

The smile slowly left his face when he realized what it was, and he found himself staring intently at the paper. He was reminded of their winning moment, of their kiss. Of the tension that built up until the night of the transfer dance.

Annie decided to keep talking as he examined the document in his hands. “I’m sorry I never gave it to you, I mean, you probably didn’t even know you got one. The dean gave it to me a week after we won and I kept putting it off giving it to you.” When he wasn’t speaking, she wasn’t sure if he was angry or hurt or just thought she was crazy, so she kept rambling. “I guess I just thought you would think it was stupid or you would throw it away or something. And…and I was afraid that if you did, my last memory of that ridiculous debate would be one that…hurt me,” she finished lamely.

With everything he was feeling in the moment, he was done talking. There was nothing he could say to her that would explain everything he felt in that moment, everything he felt about her. So he did the only thing he’d wanted to do for years, and kissed her. Annie wasn’t expecting the kiss, but she accepted it with an equal amount of urgency. His right hand cradled her head while his left pulled her flush against him, hoping that his actions conveyed everything he felt about her. Apparently, his feelings were well communicated because there was nothing uncertain about the way she held on to his sweater and ran a hand over the nape of his neck. When they pulled apart for air, they were both breathing heavily but still clung to one another.

“Annie, I---” he was cut off by Annie lunging for his lips again, pulling him towards the center of the bed. He followed without protest, and allowed her to pull him until he was looming over her. His hands roamed over sides, squeezing and feeling her warmth between the layers of fabric which seemed far too thick.

Her hands clawed at his back but eventually found their way to his heated skin. She pulled his body closer until there was some friction between them, but all of their movements slowed when he heard her softly moan his name. His mouth left hers as he caught his breath, breathing heavily against her neck. He may have been slightly freaking out at the current situation, but the truth is that he was freaking out long before he made it to her apartment and this was the only thing that made himself regain at least some measure of sanity. If Greendale was being sold to a goddamn sandwich chain, and if his last five years at that godforsaken place was spent (NOT) becoming a lawyer again, then at least it was for this.

She could tell he had his own monologue going on his head, so she did what she knew would soothe his racing mind and pulled her hands from under his sweater and ran them through his hair. Just like she used to. And sure enough, he regained his composure and responded by placing kisses along her neck, all the way up to her mouth.

“Jeff,” she breathed. “Jeff, if this is too much right now we can stop.”

He pulled away from where he was nibbling on her ear to look at her, “Annie, I’ve wanted this for so long. And right now, it’s the only thing that makes sense to me.”

She seemed to agree because she nodded against the mattress and let a tear escape.

They continued to desperately make out, like they were trying to get drunk off one another. Soon it was becoming not enough and Jeff rutted against her for some relief and he moaned into her neck, “God, Annie…”

“Jeff, I need you. Now.”

He seemed to agree because the next moments consisted of shedding shirts and sweaters until their skin was pressed together. Jeff managed to remove her pants and panties in one quick move. But he was away from her mouth for too long because before he could do anything else, his mouth covered hers and he swallowed every sound she was making. He was too busy tasting and licking to realize that she opened his fly and pulled him out, not even bothering to take off his jeans. Without any warning, she wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him inside of her, both vocalizing the pleasure that consumed them.

They were half-clothed but they didn’t care because all that mattered in the moment was that they were together and that _it_ was finally happening, and that their sadness was being replaced with affection for one another.

“Mmm, Jeff…” She cried as he sloppily kissed across her shoulders where he pushed her bra straps aside. He tugged the cup away from her breast and ne nuzzled into her warm skin. She squeezed him, urging him to start moving. When he finally did, there was nothing slow about the way he moved inside her, a need to give each other the relief they were both looking for.

“Oh…oh…Jeff.” She squeezed his shoulders tight. “I need…faster!”

He was panting beside her ear, somehow managing to form words, “Annie…I need…I need you.” In the moment. In his life. He didn’t need to explain because she needed him too. And they would figure it out together because there was no way they could ever come back from this.

Those words were all she needed to hear because she was soon tightening around him, calling out his name as she came. He followed soon after, grunting into her neck that was damp with sweat. He collapsed into a heap on top of her and tried to catch his breath, “Fuck…Annie.” It was all he could manage.

Eventually when he could think clearly, he rolled off her and pulled off the jeans that were low on his hips. Annie pulled down her sheets so they could settle underneath before taking her bra completely off. When she settled in and they were far more comfortable, Jeff pulled her close and crowded her into the mattress, kissing her slow and deep. He felt so strongly for this woman and he’s sorry it took Greendale closing for him to finally do something about it.

When he pulled away from the kiss, they were watching each other intently.

“I’m in love with you,” he whispered with his forehead pressed to hers.

She pressed up to give him another long and lingering kiss. “I’m in love with you too,” she said softly. “I have been for a while.”

He closed his eyes and nodded because he’d felt this way longer than he’d like to admit. “I just…I need you to know that our friendship means everything to me. You’ve helped me through a lot of shitty moments in my life. And no matter what happens with us, or with Greendale, you will always be so important to me.”

She caressed his flushed cheek and smiled gratefully at him. “I feel the same way. And I don’t want this…to change that.”

“We won’t let it, okay? Because I really want to be with you, Annie. I want to feel this happy all the time.” It was the most honest and unguarded she’d ever seen him. So she pulled him down for another kiss to let him know how much she wanted to be with him too.

Soon after they were both wrung out and snuggled under the covers, both of their phones chimed. Annie’s phone was somewhere in the kitchen so Jeff leaned off the bed to tug his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He showed Annie the message that was sent to the Study Group’s group chat.

 

**Abed: Buried treasure.**


End file.
